History of the Qaraunah Turks in India c12.124

c12.124

revised his policy and raised to positions of eminence men of humble origin.³⁶ Barani's bitter complaint against these men is based on personal reasons. The Sultan had defied the 'Ulama and challenged their claim to be sacrosanct; he had ceased to repose confidence in the classes from which recruits to the service of the state had been obtained in the past. In view of these circumstances the contemporary chronicler's sweeping condemnation loses much of its force. It is stated by him and he is supported by all later writers, who have copied him, that when revolts broke out in the empire, the Sultan appointed to high offices men of low origin in the hope that they would serve him loyally and carry out his orders unhesitatingly. All MSS. of Barani's *Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi* mention the names of men of low origin who were elevated to high office by the Sultan.³⁷ The chronicler falls foul of the Sultan for appointing Maqbūl, a slave of Ahmad Ayaz, the Khwajah Jahan, deputy Wazir of Gujarat, a position of great trust and responsibility. He is astonished at this conduct of the Sultan whom he deemed in ability and wisdom the equal of Jamshed and Kai Khusrau, the famous kings of Persia. He concludes his account by saying that the results of this policy soon became manifest in the dissatisfaction of the native amirs and the rebellions of the 'centurions.' Barani's exaggerated tirade misrepresents the real state of affairs. The Sultan may have sometimes erred in the selection of some of his officers; he may have been deceived by appearances as persons in his position and circumstances are likely to be, but to characterise this policy as a piece of unsurpassed folly is a travesty of facts. The credit which we might have otherwise attached to Barani's statement is diminished by his condemnation of Maqbūl's appointment to high office, for he was a man of great abilities who afterwards rose to eminence